Transaction account charge splitting

ABSTRACT

A consumer may initiate a transaction using a transaction account. The transaction account issuer may transmit a notification to the consumer that the transaction has been authorized. The consumer may select requestees with whom to split the transaction. The transaction account issuer may transmit notifications to requestees to request payment from the requestees. The transaction account issuer may transfer the payment from a transaction account of the requestee to the consumer&#39;s transaction account.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to transaction processing, and morespecifically, to splitting a transaction.

BACKGROUND

Consumers may wish to split the cost of an item or transaction amongmultiple individuals. However, many consumers do not carry cash, and itmay be cumbersome to request multiple bills, such as at a restaurant.Additionally, in some cases, one or more individuals that may beresponsible for funding a transaction may not be present when thetransaction is completed. Some payment applications allow consumers totransfer funds between each other. However, each user is often requiredto have an account with the same payment application, and it may becumbersome to request funds from different individuals that use paymentapplications from different providers, wherein the different providersare not affiliated with the transaction account used for the payment.

SUMMARY

A system, method, and computer readable medium (collectively, “system”)for charge splitting are disclosed. In various embodiments, the methodmay include authorizing a transaction for a transaction account of arequestor. A transaction account issuer (“TAI”) system may transmit anotification to the requestor regarding the transaction. The system mayreceive, from the requestor, a request to split the transaction with afirst requestee. The system may determine that the first requestee hasan account with the transaction account issuer. The system may transmita first funds transfer request to the first requestee. The system mayreceive, from the first requestee, an authorization for a payment forthe first funds transfer request. The system may apply the payment tothe transaction account. The system may display an indication that thefirst requestee has completed the first funds transfer request.

In various embodiments, the system may receive, from the requestor, arequest to split the transaction with a second requestee, or any numberof additional requestees. The system may determine that the secondrequestee has an account with the transaction account issuer. The systemmay transmit a second funds transfer request to the second requestee.The system may receive an election from the second requestee to pay forthe second funds transfer request with loyalty points. The system maydebit a loyalty account of the second requestee for the funds transferrequest.

The system may receive, from the requestor, a request to split thetransaction with a third requestee. The system may determine that thethird requestee does not have an account with the transaction accountissuer. The system may transmit a link to the third requestee to applyfor a new transaction account with the transaction account issuer.

The foregoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated hereinotherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation of thedisclosed embodiments will become more apparent in light of thefollowing description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Amore complete understanding of the present disclosure, however, may beobtained by referring to the detailed description and claims whenconsidered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numeralsdenote like elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates various system components of a system for chargesplitting, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a GUI for charge splitting, in accordance withvarious embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example screenshot of a GUI with an interface toselect requestees, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example screenshot of the GUI showing repaymentstatus, in accordance with various embodiments; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a process for charge splitting, inaccordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of various embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show variousembodiments by way of illustration. While these various embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodimentsmay be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustrationonly and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of themethod or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are notlimited to the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or stepsmay be outsourced to or performed by one or more third parties.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component may include a singularembodiment.

A system for splitting a transaction across multiple systems isdisclosed. A consumer (also referred to herein as a “requestor”) mayinitiate a transaction with a transaction account. The consumer mayinitiate the transaction by any mode, such as by presenting transactionaccount information to a merchant, by entering transaction accountinformation online, by using NFC on a mobile device, etc. The merchantmay transmit an authorization request to a transaction account issuer toapprove the transaction. The transaction account issuer (“TAI”) maycreate a transaction record, sometimes referred to as a record of charge(“ROC”), corresponding to the transaction.

In general, the TAI may transmit a push notification to a mobile deviceof the requestor, notifying the requestor that the transaction has beenprocessed. The push notification may provide the requestor an option tosplit the transaction with other consumers (also referred to herein as“requestees”). Additionally, the requestor may access an account summaryonline or with a mobile application which lists recent transactions. Thesystem may allow the requestor to select a transaction to be split. Therequestor may select a transaction to be split, and the requestor mayselect additional people or accounts which should pay for a portion ofthe transaction.

The requestor may select requestees from a contact list on a mobiledevice, select from social network connections, select from financialrecords (of the requestor or third parties), select from pre-existingcontact information, select from third-party identity providers (e.g.blockchain providers), or type in a phone number, email address, orother identifying information. The requestor may have previouslyprovided the TAI mobile application with access to the contacts on therequestor's device, and the TAI mobile application may transmit contactdata to the TAI server in response to the requestor selecting contacts.The TAI, the requestor, or another system may generate a list or createa subset from a list based on certain attributes, geographic locations,calendar entries, profile information, social networking information orother information related to the contacts. For example, the TAI maycommunicate with a social media channel via an API and determine thatseveral social media contacts of the requestor checked in to arestaurant on the same day as the requestor, and the TAI may generate alist of the social media contacts with which to split the charge. TheTAI may transmit requests to the requestees to transfer funds.

The request may be transmitted via a push notification to therequestees. The requestee may select a button in the push notification,which may open a TAI mobile application on the requestee's mobiledevice. The requestee may elect to accept or decline the request. Inresponse to declining the request, a notification may be sent to therequestor indicating that the request was denied. In response toaccepting the request, the requestee may be prompted to elect to paywith points or pay as a transaction to a transaction account of therequestee. The request may appear as a credit to the requestor and adebit to the requestee. The requestor and requestee may each receiverewards according to the rules of their respective transaction accounts.In the event that the requestee does not have a transaction account withthe TAI, the TAI may transmit a notification to the requestee asking ifthe requestee consents to receiving a card acquisition offer, and theTAI may provision a transaction account to the requestee which may beused to pay for the request.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 for charge splitting is illustratedaccording to various embodiments. The system 100 may comprise atransaction account issuer (“TAI”) application server 110. The TAIapplication server 110 may provide a graphical user interface (“GUI”),such as a website or mobile application, which allows a consumer tointeract with a TAI. For example, the TAI application server 110 mayprovide a website which allows a consumer to view account statements andmake payments. The system 100 may comprise a TAI hub 120. The TAI hub120 may comprise one or more servers and/or databases which storeinformation relevant to a consumer, such as transaction history, accountbalances, credit scores, personal information, etc. The TAI applicationserver 110 may communicate with the TAI hub 120 in order to provideaccount information to the consumer and process payments from theconsumer.

A consumer may interact with the system 100 utilizing one or moreclients capable of communicating over a network, such as web clients.The consumer may use a web client 130 to initiate transactions, viewstatements, make payments, and otherwise perform transaction accountfunctions. The web client 130 may interact with TAI application server110 in order for the consumer to make payments to the transactionaccount. In various embodiments, the web client 130 may comprise amobile application, and the consumer may open the mobile application tointerface with the TAI application server 110. In various embodiments,the web client 130 may comprise a touch screen interface, such thatconsumers may interact with the GUI by contacting the touch screeninterface.

The system 100 may comprise a merchant server 140. The consumer mayinitiate a transaction with a merchant, and the merchant server 140 maytransmit an authorization request to the TAI application server 110. Invarious embodiments, the authorization request may be transmitted viaone or more payment processors. The TAI application server 110 mayauthorize the transaction and transmit an authorization response to themerchant server 140. The TAI application server 110 may store a recordof charge corresponding to the transaction on the TAI hub 120.

The TAI application server 110 may provide a GUI that allows theconsumer to select individuals with whom to split payment for atransaction. The TAI application server 110 may provide a variety ofinterfaces with which the consumer may interact, such as a voicepersonal assistant (“VPA”). In response to a consumer selectingrequestees 170, 171, 172 with whom to split a charge, the TAIapplication server 110 may determine if the requestees 170, 171, 172have accounts with the TAI. The TAI may cross-reference the requesteeinformation provided by the requestor with stored accounts to determinewhether the TAI has an account for each requestee. The TAI applicationserver 110 may transmit a funds transfer request to the requestees 170,171, 172, and the requestees 170, 171, 172 may approve the fundstransfer request.

In various embodiments, the TAI application server 110 request a fundstransfer without using a third party peer-to-peer payment system.However, in various embodiments, the TAI application server 110 maycommunicate with a third-party peer-to-peer payment system, such asPayPal® or Venmo®, via an API, and the third-party peer-to-peer paymentsystem may facilitate the funds transfer. The TAI hub 120 may store arecord of the payments received from the requestees 170, 171, 172, andthe TAI application server 110 may transmit a notification to the webclient 130 when each payment is received. The requestor may access theiraccount to view which requestees 170, 171, 172 have submitted payments.

Referring to FIG. 2, a GUI 200 for splitting a charge on a mobile device230 is illustrated according to various embodiments. In response to arequestor completing a transaction with a transaction account, atransaction account issuer may transmit a notification to a mobiledevice 230 of the requestor. In various embodiments, the notificationmay be a push notification via a mobile application on the mobiledevice. However, the notification may also be an SMS text message oremail. The notification may include an option to split the charge.

Referring to FIG. 3, the GUI 200 or a VPA may provide an interface forthe requestor to select requestees. In response to the requestorselecting the option to split the charge, the mobile device 230 may opena TAI application on the mobile device 230, or direct the consumer to aweb page of the TAI. The requestor may be presented with the option toselect contacts or enter phone numbers, email addresses, or otheridentifying information of requestees of a funds transfer request. Invarious embodiments, the TAI application may automatically split thecharge equally between the requestor and the requestees. For example, ifthe requestor selects three requestees to split a $100 transaction withthe requestor, each requestee may receive a request for $25. Therequestor may manually adjust the amount of each request in the eventthat the requestor would like to split the charge unequally or split thecharge only between requestees. Moreover, the TAI application mayprovide options for other ways to distribute the charge based on pastspend, profiles, location, type of merchant, other selected requestees,etc. For example, the TAI application may compare the request toprevious requests, and determine that in the past requests with theselected requestees, the requestor often paid a fixed amount, such as$50 regardless of the total amount of the transaction, and the TAIapplication may automatically split the charge such that the requestorpays $50, and the remaining balance is split evenly between therequestees.

In event that a requestee does not have an account with the TAI, the TAImay transmit a notification to the requestee that the requestor isrequesting funds, and the notification may comprise a link to sign upfor an account with the TAI. In various embodiments, the TAI may firsttransmit a request to the requestee for permission to send the requesteemarketing materials.

Referring to FIG. 4, the GUI 200 may allow the requestor to track thestatus of repayment. The requestor may select a transaction to view thestatus of repayment (e.g., payment requested, payment declined, paymentreceived). In response to a requestee submitting a payment, the TAI mayapply the payment to the requestor's transaction account. The GUI maydisplay which requestees have submitted payment, and which have not. Inresponse to all requestees submitting payment, the GUI may display thefunds transfer request as complete.

Referring to FIG. 5, a process 500 for splitting a charge is illustratedaccording to various embodiments. A requestor may initiate a transactionwith a merchant using a transaction account (step 510). The requestormay use a variety of modes to initiate the transaction, such as with aphysical transaction instrument, an account code, NFC on a mobiledevice, entering account information online, using a third-party paymentsystem, etc. The merchant may transmit an authorization request to thetransaction account issuer. The TAI may create a record of charge(“ROC”). The ROC may include information such as transaction amount,time, merchant name, etc.

The TAI may transmit a transaction notification to the requestor (step520). The transaction notification may be transmitted by a pushnotification through a TAI mobile application on a mobile device of therequestor, via a SMS text message, via email, or via any other suitablemethod.

The requestor may initiate a charge split (step 530). In variousembodiments, the requestor may initiate the split by swiping orselecting the push notification or a button associated with thenotification. In various embodiments, the requestor may access thetransaction account on a mobile application or on a website and selectthe transaction from a list in order to initiate the split. Eachtransaction in an account summary page or recent transactions list mayinclude a button next to the transaction which allows the requestor toinitiate the charge split. The requestor may select requestees with whomto split the charge (step 540). In various embodiments, the requesteesmay be selected from a contact list on the requestor's mobile device. Invarious embodiments, the requestor may input requestee information, suchas phone number, email address, other identifying information, etc. Theinformation for the selected requestees may be transmitted to the TAI.The TAI may calculate an even split among the requestees for the charge.However, the requestor may input a different amount if desired.

The TAI may verify whether each requestee has a transaction account withthe TAI (step 550). The TAI may retrieve a stored phone number for eachrequestee from the TAI hub. However, in various embodiments therequestor may provide the phone number for one or more requestees. Inresponse to a requestee not having a transaction account with the TAI,the TAI may transmit a notification to the requestee, using the contactinformation provided by the requestor, requesting permission tomarketing material to the mobile device of the requestee to apply for atransaction account with the TAI. In various embodiments, the TAI maytransmit a link to the requestee to download a mobile application of theTAI or apply for a transaction account with the TAI.

The TAI may transmit a funds transfer request to each requestee (step560). The funds transfer request may indicate a dollar amount of thefunds transfer request, as well as a loyalty point amount that wouldsatisfy the funds transfer request. The requestee may authorize thefunds transfer request. The requestee may select whether to pay withdollars (or other generally accepted currency) or loyalty points. TheTAI may transfer funds from the requestee to the requestor (step 570).In response to the requestee selecting to pay with loyalty points, theTAI may deduct the loyalty points from a loyalty account of therequestee. In response to the requestee selecting to pay with dollars,the TAI may debit the requestee's transaction account for the dollaramount of the funds transfer request. The TAI may apply the funds to therequestor's transaction account (step 570). The TAI may notify therequestor each time a requestee transfers funds to the requestor. TheTAI may display a list of which requestees have completed the transferand which transfer requests are still outstanding.

The detailed description of various embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show variousembodiments by way of illustration. While these various embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodimentsmay be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustrationonly and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of themethod or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are notlimited to the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or stepsmay be outsourced to or performed by one or more third parties.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component may include a singularembodiment.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments,” “oneembodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

As used herein, “satisfy,” “meet,” “match,” “associated with” or similarphrases may include an identical match, a partial match, meeting certaincriteria, matching a subset of data, a correlation, satisfying certaincriteria, a correspondence, an association, an algorithmic relationshipand/or the like. Similarly, as used herein, “authenticate” or similarterms may include an exact authentication, a partial authentication,authenticating a subset of data, a correspondence, satisfying certaincriteria, an association, an algorithmic relationship and/or the like.

Terms and phrases similar to “associate” and/or “associating” mayinclude tagging, flagging, correlating, using a look-up table or anyother method or system for indicating or creating a relationship betweenelements, such as, for example, (i) a transaction account and (ii) anitem (e.g., offer, reward, discount) and/or digital channel. Moreover,the associating may occur at any point, in response to any suitableaction, event, or period of time. The associating may occur atpre-determined intervals, periodic, randomly, once, more than once, orin response to a suitable request or action. Any of the information maybe distributed and/or accessed via a software enabled link, wherein thelink may be sent via an email, text, post, social network input and/orany other method known in the art.

The phrases consumer, customer, user, account holder, account affiliate,cardmember or the like shall include any person, entity, business,government organization, business, software, hardware, machineassociated with a transaction account, buys merchant offerings offeredby one or more merchants using the account and/or who is legallydesignated for performing transactions on the account, regardless ofwhether a physical card is associated with the account. For example, thecardmember may include a transaction account owner, a transactionaccount user, an account affiliate, a child account user, a subsidiaryaccount user, a beneficiary of an account, a custodian of an account,and/or any other person or entity affiliated or associated with atransaction account.

Any communication, transmission and/or channel discussed herein mayinclude any system or method for delivering content (e.g. data,information, metadata, etc.), and/or the content itself. The content maybe presented in any form or medium, and in various embodiments, thecontent may be delivered electronically and/or capable of beingpresented electronically. For example, a channel may comprise a websiteor device (e.g., Facebook, YOUTUBE®, APPLE®TV®, PANDORA®, XBOX®, SONY®PLAYSTATION®), a uniform resource locator (“URL”), a document (e.g., aMICROSOFT® Word® document, a MICROSOFT® Excel® document, an ADOBE® .pdfdocument, etc.), an “ebook,” an “emagazine,” an application ormicroapplication (as described herein), an SMS or other type of textmessage, an email, Facebook, twitter, MMS and/or other type ofcommunication technology. In various embodiments, a channel may behosted or provided by a data partner. In various embodiments, thedistribution channel may comprise at least one of a merchant website, asocial media website, affiliate or partner websites, an external vendor,a mobile device communication, social media network and/or locationbased service. Distribution channels may include at least one of amerchant website, a social media site, affiliate or partner websites, anexternal vendor, and a mobile device communication. Examples of socialmedia sites include FACEBOOK®, FOURSQUARE®, TWITTER®, MYSPACE®,LINKEDIN®, and the like. Examples of affiliate or partner websitesinclude AMERICAN EXPRESS®, GROUPON®, LIVINGSOCIAL®, and the like.Moreover, examples of mobile device communications include texting,email, and mobile applications for smartphones.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., WINDOWS®, OS2, UNIX®, LINUX®, SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) aswell as various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases,in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operations may bemachine operations. Useful machines for performing the variousembodiments include general purpose digital computers or similardevices.

In fact, in various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward oneor more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionalitydescribed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors,such as processor. The processor is connected to a communicationinfrastructure (e.g., a communications bus, cross over bar, or network).Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplarycomputer system. After reading this description, it will become apparentto a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

Computer system also includes a main memory, such as for example randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drivereads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-knownmanner. Removable storage unit represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storagedrive. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

Computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datatransferred via communications interface are in the form of signalswhich may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signalscapable of being received by communications interface. These signals areprovided to communications interface via a communications path (e.g.,channel). This channel carries signals and may be implemented usingwire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, wireless and other communications channels.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware statemachine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In various embodiments, the server may include application servers (e.g.WEB SPHERE, WEB LOGIC, JBOSS). In various embodiments, the server mayinclude application servers (e.g. APACHE, IIS, GWS, SUN JAVA® SYSTEMAPPLICATION SERVER).

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications may comprise Internet browsingsoftware installed within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,voice personal assistants (“VPA”), tablets, hand held computers,personal digital assistants, set-top boxes, workstations,computer-servers, main frame computers, mini-computers, PC servers,pervasive computers, network sets of computers, personal computers, suchas IPADS®, IMACS®, and MACBOOKS®, kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS)devices and/or terminals, televisions, or any other device capable ofreceiving data over a network. A web-client may run MICROSOFT® INTERNETEXPLORER®, MOZILLA® FIREFOX®, GOOGLE® CHROME®, APPLE® Safari, or anyother of the myriad software packages available for browsing theinternet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server. For example, a web client mayaccess the services of an application server through another serverand/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In variousembodiments, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g., WINDOWS®/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX®, LINUX®,SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) as well as various conventional support softwareand drivers typically associated with computers. A web client mayinclude any suitable personal computer, network computer, workstation,personal digital assistant, cellular phone, smart phone, minicomputer,mainframe or the like. A web client can be in a home or businessenvironment with access to a network. In various embodiments, access isthrough a network or the Internet through a commercially availableweb-browser software package. A web client may implement securityprotocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport LayerSecurity (TLS). A web client may implement several application layerprotocols including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

In various embodiments, components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a WINDOWS® mobile operating system, an ANDROID®Operating System, APPLE® IOS®, a BLACKBERRY® operating system and thelike. The micro-app may be configured to leverage the resources of thelarger operating system and associated hardware via a set ofpredetermined rules which govern the operations of various operatingsystems and hardware resources. For example, where a micro-app desiresto communicate with a device or network other than the mobile device ormobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage the communicationprotocol of the operating system and associated device hardware underthe predetermined rules of the mobile operating system. Moreover, wherethe micro-app desires an input from a user, the micro-app may beconfigured to request a response from the operating system whichmonitors various hardware components and then communicates a detectedinput from the hardware to the micro-app.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or electronic communications system or method which incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, Internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digitalassistant (e.g., IPHONE®, BLACKBERRY®), cellular phone, kiosk, etc.),online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Moreover, although thesystem is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX,APPLE®talk, IP-6, NetBIOS®, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec,SSH), or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network isin the nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may beadvantageous to presume the network to be insecure and open toeavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols, standards,and application software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein. See, for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS ANDPROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA® 2 COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999);DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IPCLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997) and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THEDEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002), the contents of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish Networks®, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf (lastvisited June 2012), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

The system contemplates uses in association with web services, utilitycomputing, pervasive and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commodity computing,mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computingand/or mesh computing.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, blockchain, object-oriented structure and/or any otherdatabase configurations. Common database products that may be used toimplement the databases include DB2 by IBM® (Armonk, N.Y.), variousdatabase products available from ORACLE® Corporation (Redwood Shores,Calif.), MICROSOFT® Access® or MICROSOFT® SQL Server® by MICROSOFT®Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala, Sweden), orany other suitable database product. Moreover, the databases may beorganized in any suitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookuptables. Each record may be a single file, a series of files, a linkedseries of data fields or any other data structure.

Association of certain data may be accomplished through any desired dataassociation technique such as those known or practiced in the art. Forexample, the association may be accomplished either manually orautomatically. Automatic association techniques may include, forexample, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using akey field in the tables to speed searches, sequential searches throughall the tables and files, sorting records in the file according to aknown order to simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association stepmay be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a“key field” in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various databasetuning steps are contemplated to optimize database performance. Forexample, frequently used files such as indexes may be placed on separatefile systems to reduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored in association with the system or external tobut affiliated with system. The BLOB method may store data sets asungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary via a fixedmemory offset using either fixed storage allocation, circular queuetechniques, or best practices with respect to memory management (e.g.,paged memory, least recently used, etc.). By using BLOB methods, theability to store various data sets that have different formatsfacilitates the storage of data, in the database or associated with thesystem, by multiple and unrelated owners of the data sets. For example,a first data set which may be stored may be provided by a first party, asecond data set which may be stored may be provided by an unrelatedsecond party, and yet a third data set which may be stored, may beprovided by an third party unrelated to the first and second party. Eachof these three exemplary data sets may contain different informationthat is stored using different data storage formats and/or techniques.Further, each data set may contain subsets of data that also may bedistinct from other subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may beannotated in a standard manner when provided for manipulating the datain the database or system. The annotation may comprise a short header,trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to each data set that isconfigured to convey information useful in managing the various datasets. For example, the annotation may be called a “condition header,”“header,” “trailer,” or “status,” herein, and may comprise an indicationof the status of the data set or may include an identifier correlated toa specific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by astandalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, oraugment the data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, inone embodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the user at thestandalone device, the appropriate option for the action to be taken.The system may contemplate a data storage arrangement wherein the headeror trailer, or header or trailer history, of the data is stored on thesystem, device or transaction instrument in relation to the appropriatedata.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, GPG (GnuPG), and symmetricand asymmetric cryptosystems.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of the system to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect system components and/or enterprise computing resources fromusers of other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limitor restrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through an application server. Firewall mayreside in varying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxybased, access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewallmay be integrated within an application server or any other CMScomponents or may further reside as a separate entity. A firewall mayimplement network address translation (“NAT”) and/or network addressport translation (“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunnelingprotocols to facilitate secure communications, such as those used invirtual private networking. A firewall may implement a demilitarizedzone (“DMZ”) to facilitate communications with a public network such asthe Internet. A firewall may be integrated as software within anInternet server, any other application server components or may residewithin another computing device or may take the form of a standalonehardware component.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the MICROSOFT® INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES® (IIS),MICROSOFT® Transaction Server (MTS), and MICROSOFT® SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the MICROSOFT® operating system, MICROSOFT® NTapplication server software, a MICROSOFT® SQL Server database system,and a MICROSOFT® Commerce Server. Additionally, components such asAccess or MICROSOFT® SQL Server, ORACLE®, Sybase, Informix MySQL,Interbase, etc., may be used to provide an Active Data Object (ADO)compliant database management system. In one embodiment, the Apacheapplication server is used in conjunction with a Linux operating system,a MySQL database, and the Perl, PHP, and/or Python programminglanguages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, JAVA® applets, JAVASCRIPT,active server pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI),extensible markup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets(CSS), AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT And XML), helper applications,plug-ins, and the like. A server may include a web service that receivesa request from an application server, the request including a URL and anIP address (123.56.789.234). The application server retrieves theappropriate web pages and sends the data or applications for the webpages to the IP address. Web services are applications that are capableof interacting with other applications over a communications means, suchas the internet. Web services are typically based on standards orprotocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methodsare well known in the art, and are covered in many standard texts. See,e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES: A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE (2003),hereby incorporated by reference.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WEBSPHERE MQ™(formerly MQSeries) by IBM®, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, MICROSOFT® Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JAVASCRIPT, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “JAVA® Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As used herein, the term “end user,” “consumer,” “customer,”“cardmember,” “business” or “merchant” may be used interchangeably witheach other, and each shall mean any person, entity, governmentorganization, business, machine, hardware, and/or software. A bank maybe part of the system, but the bank may represent other types of cardissuing institutions, such as credit card companies, card sponsoringcompanies, or third party issuers under contract with financialinstitutions. It is further noted that other participants may beinvolved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution, but these participants are not shown.

Each participant is equipped with a computing device in order tointeract with the system and facilitate online commerce transactions.The customer has a computing unit in the form of a personal computer,although other types of computing units may be used including laptops,notebooks, hand held computers, set-top boxes, cellular telephones,touch-tone telephones and the like. The merchant has a computing unitimplemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are contemplated by the system. The bank has a computingcenter shown as a main frame computer. However, the bank computingcenter may be implemented in other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PCserver, a network of computers located in the same of differentgeographic locations, or the like. Moreover, the system contemplates theuse, sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet®, Veriphone®, Discover Card®, PayPal®, ApplePay®,GooglePay®, private networks (e.g., department store networks), and/orany other payment networks.

The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the customer andissuing bank. In an exemplary implementation, the electronic commercesystem is implemented as computer software modules loaded onto thecustomer computer and the banking computing center. The merchantcomputer does not require any additional software to participate in theonline commerce transactions supported by the online commerce system.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, astand-alone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form ofa processing apparatus executing code, an internet based embodiment, anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of theinternet, software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code means embodied in the storagemedium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized,including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storagedevices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser WINDOWS®, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc.Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps describedherein may comprise in any number of configurations including the use ofWINDOWS®, webpages, web forms, popup WINDOWS®, prompts and the like. Itshould be further appreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated anddescribed may be combined into single webpages and/or WINDOWS® but havebeen expanded for the sake of simplicity. In other cases, stepsillustrated and described as single process steps may be separated intomultiple webpages and/or WINDOWS® but have been combined for simplicity.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.

Although the disclosure includes a method, it is contemplated that itmay be embodied as computer program instructions on a tangiblecomputer-readable carrier, such as a magnetic or optical memory or amagnetic or optical disk. All structural, chemical, and functionalequivalents to the elements of the above-described various embodimentsthat are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or methodto address each and every problem sought to be solved by the presentdisclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore,no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether theelement, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.No claim element is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” As usedherein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variationthereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that aprocess, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elementsdoes not include only those elements but may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, orapparatus.

In various embodiments, system components may be configured with abiometric security system that may be used for providing biometrics as asecondary form of identification. The biometric security system mayinclude a transponder and a reader communicating with the system. Thebiometric security system also may include a biometric sensor thatdetects biometric samples and a device for verifying biometric samples.The biometric security system may be configured with one or morebiometric scanners, processors and/or systems. A biometric system mayinclude one or more technologies, or any portion thereof, such as, forexample, recognition of a biometric. As used herein, a biometric mayinclude a user's voice, fingerprint, facial, ear, signature, vascularpatterns, DNA sampling, hand geometry, sound, olfactory,keystroke/typing, iris, retinal or any other biometric relating torecognition based upon any body part, function, system, attribute and/orother characteristic, or any portion thereof.

Phrases and terms similar to a “party” may include any individual,consumer, customer, group, business, organization, government entity,transaction account issuer or processor (e.g., credit, charge, etc.),merchant, consortium of merchants, account holder, charitableorganization, software, hardware, and/or any other type of entity. Theterms “user,” “consumer,” “purchaser,” and/or the plural form of theseterms are used interchangeably throughout herein to refer to thosepersons or entities that are alleged to be authorized to use atransaction account.

Phrases and terms similar to “account,” “transaction account,” “accountnumber,” “account code” or “consumer account” as used herein, mayinclude any device, code (e.g., one or more of an authorization/accesscode, personal identification number (“PIN”), Internet code, otheridentification code, and/or the like), number, letter, symbol, digitalcertificate, smart chip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric orother identifier/indicia suitably configured to allow the consumer toaccess, interact with or communicate with the system. The account numbermay optionally be located on or associated with a rewards account,charge account, credit account, debit account, prepaid account,telephone card, embossed card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, barcode card, transponder, radio frequency card or an associated account.

The account number may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or opticaldevice capable of transmitting or downloading data from itself to asecond device. A consumer account number may be, for example, asixteen-digit account number, although each credit provider has its ownnumbering system, such as the fifteen-digit numbering system used byAmerican Express. Each company's account numbers comply with thatcompany's standardized format such that the company using afifteen-digit format will generally use three-spaced sets of numbers, asrepresented by the number “0000 000000 00000”. The first five to sevendigits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the issuingbank, account type, etc. In this example, the last (fifteenth) digit isused as a sum check for the fifteen digit number. The intermediaryeight-to-eleven digits are used to uniquely identify the consumer. Amerchant account number may be, for example, any number or alpha-numericcharacters that identify a particular merchant for purposes of accountacceptance, account reconciliation, reporting, or the like.

The system may include or interface with any of the accounts, devices,and/or a transponder and reader (e.g. RFID reader) in RF communicationwith the transponder (which may include a fob), or communicationsbetween an initiator and a target enabled by near field communications(NFC). Typical devices may include, for example, a key ring, tag, card,cell phone, wristwatch or any such form capable of being presented forinterrogation. Moreover, the system, computing unit or device discussedherein may include a “pervasive computing device,” which may include atraditionally non-computerized device that is embedded with a computingunit. Examples may include watches, Internet enabled kitchen appliances,restaurant tables embedded with RF readers, wallets or purses withimbedded transponders, etc. Furthermore, a device or financialtransaction instrument may have electronic and communicationsfunctionality enabled, for example, by: a network of electroniccircuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto or within thetransaction instrument (and typically referred to as a “smart card”); afob having a transponder and an RFID reader; and/or near fieldcommunication (NFC) technologies. For more information regarding NFC,refer to the following specifications all of which are incorporated byreference herein: ISO/IEC 18092/ECMA-340, Near Field CommunicationInterface and Protocol-1 (NFCIP-1); ISO/IEC 21481/ECMA-352, Near FieldCommunication Interface and Protocol-2 (NFCIP-2); and EMV 4.2 availableat http://www.emvco.com/default.aspx.

In various embodiments, an account number may identify a consumer. Inaddition, in various embodiments, a consumer may be identified by avariety of identifiers, including, for example, an email address, atelephone number, a cookie id, a radio frequency identifier (RFID), abiometric, and the like.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction.

Phrases and terms similar to “financial institution” or “transactionaccount issuer” may include any entity that offers transaction accountservices. Although often referred to as a “financial institution,” thefinancial institution may represent any type of bank, lender or othertype of account issuing institution, such as credit card companies, cardsponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

The terms “payment vehicle,” “financial transaction instrument,”“transaction instrument” and/or the plural form of these terms may beused interchangeably throughout to refer to a financial instrument.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include alerting asubscriber when their computer is offline. The system may includegenerating customized information and alerting a remote subscriber thatthe information can be accessed from their computer. The alerts aregenerated by filtering received information, building information alertsand formatting the alerts into data blocks based upon subscriberpreference information. The data blocks are transmitted to thesubscriber's wireless device which, when connected to the computer,causes the computer to auto-launch an application to display theinformation alert and provide access to more detailed information aboutthe information alert. More particularly, the method may compriseproviding a viewer application to a subscriber for installation on theremote subscriber computer; receiving information at a transmissionserver sent from a data source over the Internet, the transmissionserver comprising a microprocessor and a memory that stores the remotesubscriber's preferences for information format, destination address,specified information, and transmission schedule, wherein themicroprocessor filters the received information by comparing thereceived information to the specified information; generates aninformation alert from the filtered information that contains a name, aprice and a universal resource locator (URL), which specifies thelocation of the data source; formats the information alert into datablocks according to said information format; and transmits the formattedinformation alert over a wireless communication channel to a wirelessdevice associated with a subscriber based upon the destination addressand transmission schedule, wherein the alert activates the applicationto cause the information alert to display on the remote subscribercomputer and to enable connection via the URL to the data source overthe Internet when the wireless device is locally connected to the remotesubscriber computer and the remote subscriber computer comes online.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include a graphicaluser interface for dynamically relocating/rescaling obscured textualinformation of an underlying window to become automatically viewable tothe user. By permitting textual information to be dynamically relocatedbased on an overlap condition, the computer's ability to displayinformation is improved. More particularly, the method for dynamicallyrelocating textual information within an underlying window displayed ina graphical user interface may comprise displaying a first windowcontaining textual information in a first format within a graphical userinterface on a computer screen; displaying a second window within thegraphical user interface; constantly monitoring the boundaries of thefirst window and the second window to detect an overlap condition wherethe second window overlaps the first window such that the textualinformation in the first window is obscured from a user's view;determining the textual information would not be completely viewable ifrelocated to an unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating afirst measure of the area of the first window and a second measure ofthe area of the unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating ascaling factor which is proportional to the difference between the firstmeasure and the second measure; scaling the textual information basedupon the scaling factor; automatically relocating the scaled textualinformation, by a processor, to the unobscured portion of the firstwindow in a second format during an overlap condition so that the entirescaled textual information is viewable on the computer screen by theuser; and automatically returning the relocated scaled textualinformation, by the processor, to the first format within the firstwindow when the overlap condition no longer exists.

In various embodiments, the system may also include isolating andremoving malicious code from electronic messages (e.g., email) toprevent a computer from being compromised, for example by being infectedwith a computer virus. The system may scan electronic communications formalicious computer code and clean the electronic communication before itmay initiate malicious acts. The system operates by physically isolatinga received electronic communication in a “quarantine” sector of thecomputer memory. A quarantine sector is a memory sector created by thecomputer's operating system such that files stored in that sector arenot permitted to act on files outside that sector. When a communicationcontaining malicious code is stored in the quarantine sector, the datacontained within the communication is compared to maliciouscode-indicative patterns stored within a signature database. Thepresence of a particular malicious code-indicative pattern indicates thenature of the malicious code. The signature database further includescode markers that represent the beginning and end points of themalicious code. The malicious code is then extracted from maliciouscode-containing communication. An extraction routine is run by a fileparsing component of the processing unit. The file parsing routineperforms the following operations: scan the communication for theidentified beginning malicious code marker; flag each scanned bytebetween the beginning marker and the successive end malicious codemarker; continue scanning until no further beginning malicious codemarker is found; and create a new data file by sequentially copying allnon-flagged data bytes into the new file, which thus forms a sanitizedcommunication file. The new, sanitized communication is transferred to anon-quarantine sector of the computer memory. Subsequently, all data onthe quarantine sector is erased. More particularly, the system includesa method for protecting a computer from an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code by receiving an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code in a computer with a memory having a bootsector, a quarantine sector and a non-quarantine sector; storing thecommunication in the quarantine sector of the memory of the computer,wherein the quarantine sector is isolated from the boot and thenon-quarantine sector in the computer memory, where code in thequarantine sector is prevented from performing write actions on othermemory sectors; extracting, via file parsing, the malicious code fromthe electronic communication to create a sanitized electroniccommunication, wherein the extracting comprises scanning thecommunication for an identified beginning malicious code marker,flagging each scanned byte between the beginning marker and a successiveend malicious code marker, continuing scanning until no furtherbeginning malicious code marker is found, and creating a new data fileby sequentially copying all non-flagged data bytes into a new file thatforms a sanitized communication file; transferring the sanitizedelectronic communication to the non-quarantine sector of the memory; anddeleting all data remaining in the quarantine sector.

In various embodiments, the system may also address the problem ofretaining control over customers during affiliate purchase transactions,using a system for co-marketing the “look and feel” of the host web pagewith the product-related content information of the advertisingmerchant's web page. The system can be operated by a third-partyoutsource provider, who acts as a broker between multiple hosts andmerchants. Prior to implementation, a host places links to a merchant'swebpage on the host's web page. The links are associated withproduct-related content on the merchant's web page. Additionally, theoutsource provider system stores the “look and feel” information fromeach host's web pages in a computer data store, which is coupled to acomputer server. The “look and feel” information includes visuallyperceptible elements such as logos, colors, page layout, navigationsystem, frames, mouse-over effects or other elements that are consistentthrough some or all of each host's respective web pages. A customer whoclicks on an advertising link is not transported from the host web pageto the merchant's web page, but instead is re-directed to a compositeweb page that combines product information associated with the selecteditem and visually perceptible elements of the host web page. Theoutsource provider's server responds by first identifying the host webpage where the link has been selected and retrieving the correspondingstored “look and feel” information. The server constructs a compositeweb page using the retrieved “look and feel” information of the host webpage, with the product-related content embedded within it, so that thecomposite web page is visually perceived by the customer as associatedwith the host web page. The server then transmits and presents thiscomposite web page to the customer so that she effectively remains onthe host web page to purchase the item without being redirected to thethird party merchant affiliate. Because such composite pages arevisually perceived by the customer as associated with the host web page,they give the customer the impression that she is viewing pages servedby the host. Further, the customer is able to purchase the item withoutbeing redirected to the third party merchant affiliate, thus allowingthe host to retain control over the customer. This system enables thehost to receive the same advertising revenue streams as before butwithout the loss of visitor traffic and potential customers. Moreparticularly, the system may be useful in an outsource provider servingweb pages offering commercial opportunities. The computer storecontaining data, for each of a plurality of first web pages, defining aplurality of visually perceptible elements, which visually perceptibleelements correspond to the plurality of first web pages; wherein each ofthe first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active linkassociated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunityof a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and wherein the selectedmerchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web pagedisplaying the associated link are each third parties with respect toone other; a computer server at the outsource provider, which computerserver is coupled to the computer store and programmed to: receive fromthe web browser of a computer user a signal indicating activation of oneof the links displayed by one of the first web pages; automaticallyidentify as the source page the one of the first web pages on which thelink has been activated; in response to identification of the sourcepage, automatically retrieve the stored data corresponding to the sourcepage; and using the data retrieved, automatically generate and transmitto the web browser a second web page that displays: informationassociated with the commerce object associated with the link that hasbeen activated, and the plurality of visually perceptible elementsvisually corresponding to the source page.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: authorizing, by acomputer-based system of a transaction account issuer, a transaction fora transaction account of a requestor; transmitting, by thecomputer-based system, a notification to the requestor regarding thetransaction; receiving, by the computer-based system and from therequestor, a request to split the transaction with a first requestee;determining, by the computer-based system, that the first requestee hasan account with the transaction account issuer; transmitting, by thecomputer-based system, a first funds transfer request to the firstrequestee; receiving, by the computer-based system and from the firstrequestee, an authorization for a payment for the first funds transferrequest; and applying, by the computer-based system, the payment to thetransaction account.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving, by the computer-based system and from the requestor, arequest to split the transaction with a second requestee; determining,by the computer-based system, that the second requestee has an accountwith the transaction account issuer; and transmitting, by thecomputer-based system, a second funds transfer request to the secondrequestee.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving, bythe computer-based system, an election from the second requestee to payfor the second funds transfer request with loyalty points.
 4. The methodof claim 3, further comprising debiting a loyalty account of the secondrequestee for the second funds transfer request.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system and fromthe requestor, a request to split the transaction with a thirdrequestee; and determining, by the computer-based system, that the thirdrequestee does not have an account with the transaction account issuer.6. The method of claim 5, further comprising transmitting, by thecomputer-based system, a link to the third requestee to apply for a newtransaction account with the transaction account issuer.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising displaying, by the computer-based system,an indication that the first requestee has completed the first fundstransfer request.
 8. An article of manufacture including anon-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium havinginstructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by acomputer-based system of a transaction account issuer, cause thecomputer-based system to perform operations comprising: authorizing, bythe computer-based system, a transaction for a transaction account of arequestor; transmitting, by the computer-based system, a notification tothe requestor regarding the transaction; receiving, by thecomputer-based system and from the requestor, a request to split thetransaction with a first requestee; determining, by the computer-basedsystem, that the first requestee has an account with the transactionaccount issuer; transmitting, by the computer-based system, a firstfunds transfer request to the first requestee; receiving, by thecomputer-based system and from the first requestee, an authorization fora payment for the first funds transfer request; and applying, by thecomputer-based system, the payment to the transaction account.
 9. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise receiving, by the computer-based system and from the requestor,a request to split the transaction with a second requestee; determining,by the computer-based system, that the second requestee has an accountwith the transaction account issuer; and transmitting, by thecomputer-based system, a second funds transfer request to the secondrequestee.
 10. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein theoperations further comprise receiving, by the computer-based system, anelection from the second requestee to pay for the second funds transferrequest with loyalty points.
 11. The article of manufacture of claim 10,wherein the operations further comprise debiting a loyalty account ofthe second requestee for the second funds transfer request.
 12. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise receiving, by the computer-based system and from the requestor,a request to split the transaction with a third requestee; anddetermining, by the computer-based system, that the third requestee doesnot have an account with the transaction account issuer.
 13. The articleof manufacture of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprisetransmitting, by the computer-based system, a link to the thirdrequestee to apply for a new transaction account with the transactionaccount issuer.
 14. The article of manufacture of claim 8, wherein theoperations further comprise displaying, by the computer-based system, anindication that the first requestee has completed the first fundstransfer request.
 15. A system comprising: a processor of a transactionaccount issuer; a tangible, non-transitory memory configured tocommunicate with the processor; the tangible, non-transitory memoryhaving instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:authorizing, by the processor, a transaction for a transaction accountof a requestor; transmitting, by the processor, a notification to therequestor regarding the transaction; receiving, by the processor andfrom the requestor, a request to split the transaction with a firstrequestee; determining, by the processor, that the first requestee hasan account with a first peer-to-peer payment system; transmitting, bythe processor, a first funds transfer request to the first peer-to-peerpayment system; receiving, by the processor and from the firstpeer-to-peer payment system a payment for the first funds transferrequest; and applying, by the processor, the payment to the transactionaccount.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations furthercomprise receiving, by the processor and from the requestor, a requestto split the transaction with a second requestee; determining, by theprocessor, that the second requestee has an account with the transactionaccount issuer; and transmitting, by the processor, a second fundstransfer request to the second requestee.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein the operations further comprise receiving, by the processor, anelection from the second requestee to pay for the second funds transferrequest with loyalty points.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theoperations further comprise debiting a loyalty account of the secondrequestee for the second funds transfer request.
 19. The system of claim15, wherein the operations further comprise receiving, by the processorand from the requestor, a request to split the transaction with a thirdrequestee; and determining, by the processor, that the third requesteedoes not have an account with the transaction account issuer.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprisetransmitting, by the processor, a link to the third requestee to applyfor a new transaction account with the transaction account issuer.